Conrad von Hotzendorf

Frans Xaver Josef Graf Conrad von Hotzendorf (11 November 1852-25 August 1925) was Chief of the General Staff of Austria-Hungary during World War I.

Biography
Hotzendorf was born in the Penzing suburb of Vienna, Austria, and he joined the army in 1871 at the age of 19. In 1882 he fought as a Captain in the Austro-Hungarian Army during the Dalmatian rebellion against Austrian rule during the Balkan Wars era (1875-1913) and he toured the battlefields of the Franco-Prussian War.

Ennobled in 1910 at the rank of Freiherr by Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria, Hotzendorf was a key Austro-Hungarian military and political leader during the 1914 crisis that precipitated World War I. He made moves against Serbia and defended Silesia from Russian attack, and in November 1916 he was promoted to Field Marshal. However, in 1917 he was fired by Emperor Karl I of Austria-Hungary, who took over all of Austria-Hungary's armies.

Hotzendorf was transferred to lead the South Tyrol Army Group in northern Italy, fighting the Italian offensives. On 15 July, after stalemate at the Battle of the Piave River, Hotzendorf was dismissed from command and he died in 1925 in Bad Mergentheim, Germany.